After Contact
by Alenida
Summary: What would have happened if in First Contact the ship HAD self-destructed? Would the crew ever have gotten home? Would romance have blossomed between Jean-Luc and Beverly? Well, of course. Why else would I write this? One-shot.


Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek. Sadly. Very sadly.

A/N: I've always been unhappy Jean-Luc and Beverly never got together. Well, probably a lot of people were. If that's you, I hope you'll like my spin on First Contact.

**After Contact**

"…take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

The groom hesitated for a moment, then reached down and lifted up the bride's veil. She blushed, and the light shone on her copper-colored hair as she stepped forward into his embrace.

"It's about time," someone at the back of the church murmured.

"What do you mean?" his neighbor, a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman, asked.

"I mean they've been putting this off for years. I'm not sure they would have done it if we hadn't ended up being stuck here."

"Well, we've been putting it off, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act so surprised, Will. I saw the way you were looking throughout the whole ceremony—as if it should have been you up there."

Will almost laughed. "You know me too well, Counselor."

"I do, don't I?" she grinned.

At the altar, the groom said, "Well, what about the reception, everybody?"

The cake was fabulous. It was probably a good thing, Deanna reflected, that no one other than their small party was here to see it. She wondered whether Beverly had taken a replicator with her off the _Enterprise-E_, before it was destroyed. Beverly was cutting the cake, flushed and happy. The groom, Picard, came up and murmured in her ear, "Anyone would think this is your first wedding."

Beverly flushed more than ever, and replied, "At least _I_ didn't wait until now to get married the first time!"

There was a knock on the door of the building which served them as a church.

"Uh oh," Beverly said. The cake, although cut, still showed the first _Enterprise _in magnificent detail. It wouldn't do for anyone from this century to see it—it _was_ still two hundred years or so in the future.

"I'll get it," Picard said, and went over. He opened the door a crack and peeped out. Then he laughed. "Lily!" he exclaimed.

The handsome black woman he ushered in looked around in surprise. "Will somebody tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"There's been…a marriage," Picard replied.

"I can see _that_. The _bride_ at least had the sense to get dressed up," she said, indicating Beverly, whose long, white dress and veil were in sharp contrast to the dress uniforms of the rest of the guests.

Picard's face began to heat up. Beverly glided over at this point and said, "You know the Captain, Lily. He's always so modest." She gave Picard an amused look. Picard's ears turned red. Lily burst out laughing. "You old fraud! I should have known!" she giggled.

"Well, I'm glad that everybody knew or should have known except for myself!" Picard growled playfully.

"The husband is always the last to know!" Beverly smiled.

Riker came over and suggested that, as it was getting rather late, the bride and groom might want to retire to their new house for the night. Picard agreed, rather too heartily, sending Lily off into fresh waves of giggles. She managed to stop, wiping her eyes, and commented, "And if you don't want everybody knowing there's a wedding on, I suggest that next time, you don't let the bride walk half-a-mile from her house to the church in full marriage regalia."

Picard turned to Beverly, "You _what_?"

"It was a nice evening!" she said defensively.

"We are getting straight to bed! You must be exhausted, after all the work you did yesterday on that cake, as well."

Lily went off into another gale of giggles, and Picard flushed.

"Oh come on, then, Jean-Luc," Beverly said, taking pity on him. Picard held out his arm, and Beverly took it, and the two of them walked out of the church.

"Captain! Captain!" It was about several months after the wedding when Picard was awakened by faint shouts outside the window. The voice seemed vaguely familiar. Picard staggered out of bed and over to the window, reviving somewhat when he felt the breath of cool night air. He poked his head out and looked around.

"Captain! I am here!"

Picard jolted upright, nearly banging his head on the window. The white face was only a foot away from his, although half the 'skin' was missing.

"Data…" he whispered.

"Yes, Captain. It is I."

"I couldn't find you before the ship self-destructed. What happened?"

"I was unharmed in the explosion, but I found myself orbiting the earth at high speeds. I was unsure as to whether my orbit would decay within a human life-span."

"I take it that it did?"

"No, sir. It did not. I was picked up by a Romulan Warbird, from which I have only recently been able to escape."

This time Picard did bang his head on the window. "Romulans? Here? Now?" Then, rubbing his head, he muttered, "Owch!"

"Yes, sir. I believe they have found a way to go back in time. This particular Warbird is on a scouting mission, to find the strengths and weaknesses of Earth at this time."

"And if it does not return?" Picard asked, a plan forming in his mind.

"The Romulans will abandon their plan."

"Good. It must not return. Data, can I meet you downstairs? Climbing the ivy outside my bedroom window may be expedient, but it is not especially convenient."

"Yes, sir. Of course." Data dropped lightly to the ground. Picard pulled his head back through the window, thinking glumly that he should be more careful about bumping his head, or Beverly was likely to have it.

"So, I take it we're going to stop the Romulans?" a soft voice in the direction of the bed asked.

"Beverly! I thought you were asleep!"

"Oh, come now, Jean-Luc. The floor-boards creak, you bump your head, you talk in stage whispers to Data, who doesn't even bother to whisper because he has no idea anyone else is here—and you expect me to sleep through all that? Really, Captain. You underestimate your Chief Medical Officer."

"Sorry, Beverly."

"I am coming to this planning session, too. No matter what Data says. It's not as if he's going to tease you, Jean-Luc."

"I was thinking of your health. You need your sleep."

"I'll be all right. One late night won't kill me."

"Yes, Doctor!"

"However, Jean-Luc, before we go down, you are going to put on a robe. Those pajamas are far too thin for you to wear at a midnight meeting, with nothing else on."

Picard sighed, threw up his hands, and gave up.

"Dr. Crusher!" Data exclaimed as they came down the stairs.

"Sort of. According to this time-period, my name is now Dr. Picard."

_Data's emotion chip _must_ have survived_, Picard mused, seeing Data's mouth drop open in surprise. He recovered quickly, "I believe the correct human expression is 'congratulations'," he said doubtfully.

"It is indeed. I thank you, Data. Now, about these Romulans."

Data and Picard were in a deep discussion of whether they should destroy the ship, push it into the sea, or just hide it, so no one would find it.

"Why not just take it away?" Beverly interjected.

"Take it away to where, Beverly?" Picard asked.

She smiled. "If the Romulans came from our century, surely we can use it to get home."

It was Picard's turn for his mouth to drop open.

"Now," Beverly said, with a grin, "Now you say, 'why didn't I think of that'?"

Picard smiled back at her, comprehension still dawning. _We can get home_, he thought._ It's been months. I thought we would be here forever._

Their plans were made. The Romulan ship was not heavily guarded. Picard was going to go aboard and turn off all the power so that it couldn't fire at them. Then the _Enterprise_ crew would attack. They had the advantage of numbers. Everything should be over quickly. Picard hoped. He started to sneak toward the Romulan ship. He came up at the entrance. Around three-quarters of the Romulans were gone, already scouting. There should be no difficulty in getting in.

Using the tool Data had given him, he wrenched the sliding doors open, as silently as possible. He walked in. He had just time to realize that something was wrong, because it was far too dark, when he felt a weapon pressed into his back, and a cool Romulan voice said, "Welcome, Captain Picard."

"It's been too long. Something's gone wrong," Beverly worried. "I'm going to go and look for him."

"He will be angry."

"He can be angry for all I care!"

"Perhaps you should wait, Doctor."

"No way!"

She snuck off. Data reflected that she didn't walk as smoothly as she was

used to; perhaps she was tired. Or…

Picard sighed, as he was thrown into the cell. It seemed that the Romulans weren't after Earth, after all. Data had been deliberately fed misinformation. The Romulans wanted the famous Captain Picard, as a trophy of war. They had heard of 'when' he was, through some unknown source, and come to collect him. Picard stopped in thinking these thoughts when he heard shouts and the scream of a phaser.

_Oh, dear_, he thought. _Who came in to see why I have been gone so long?_

The Romulans approached the cell again—with a very unwilling prisoner, Picard could tell. The Romulans occasionally swore or yelped in pain as the prisoner's feet connected with their unguarded shins. Zzzzt! The force-field went off, and Picard was hard put to suppress a groan. He should have known.

Beverly's red hair was in disarray, her hands clutched in front of her stomach. _Why would she do that?_ Picard wondered, distractedly. The Romulans threw her violently forward into the cell. She twisted in mid-air, so that instead of slamming into the wall with her stomach, she slammed into it with her back.

_That's odd_, Picard mused, even as he ran over to her, _Surely her back is more vulnerable than her stomach?_

Grinning evilly, a Romulan commander walked in. "I see you know each other," he said. "I have no use for the woman. Guards!" he snapped his fingers, and four armed guards appeared. "Kill her!" Beverly crouched on the ground, turned on her side, hands protectively over her middle. Picard tried to block the guards, but two of them wrenched him back. The guards raised their guns…

"Wait!" the commander said, staring at Beverly, his eyes narrowing shrewdly. "This woman is with child." He smiled. "Take her away for testing. I want to know whose child she bears."

Picard, dazed, stared after Beverly as she was dragged off. _With child? She's _pregnant _Now I know why she hit the wall on her back!_

After several hours, Beverly was flung back in. Her face was tear-streaked. Picard hurried to her. "Do you have a tricorder?" she asked immediately, anxiety plain on her face.

Picard handed it to her mutely. She ran over herself and gave a sigh of relief. "The baby's all right," she said. "I was afraid they'd hurt her."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Picard demanded.

"Well…you were busy, and I thought I would let it be a surprise once we got home."

She smiled again. "Wesley's going to have a little sister."

"A little sister," Picard echoed weakly. "Beverly, in future, please tell me these things!"

Beverly grinned weakly. "Sorry, Jean-Luc," she murmured.

"Are you all right?" he asked worriedly. Looking at her now that he knew, he wondered how he could have missed it before. Then he realized that she had been wearing very loose dresses most of the time. He had been too preoccupied to ask her why, but it was fairly obvious now.

Beverly nodded. Then she said, "Oh, damn!" and put her hand to her stomach.

"Oh, damn, what?" Picard asked.

"Uh…could we escape soon?" Beverly asked breathlessly.

"Why?"

"Well…um…"

"Well, um, what, Doctor?"

"Well, I suppose if you really want your daughter to be born in a Romulan brig cell…"

Picard groaned. "Beverly!"

"Sorry. I didn't expect it so soon. It's probably the rather nasty shock of being captured by Romulans…oh!" she moaned and put her hand to her stomach again.

Picard felt a headache coming on. "Beverly, in future, could you please try and not do this to me?"

"Sorry…Jean-Luc…didn't mean to," Beverly managed. Her voice was breathy, and she was obviously speaking with effort now. Then she grinned weakly. "I had to…wait until…the Romulans…left…us alone," she said. She plunged her hand into the front of her dress and withdrew it. Inside it, she cradled a phaser.

"Beverly, you are a genius!" Picard exclaimed, taking the phaser and hiding it behind his back. Beverly shrugged and leaned back against the wall. She closed her eyes. Picard could see she was trying to control her breathing. Suddenly, Picard heard yells from outside, and the Romulan guards stormed in.

"Tell your men to withdraw or the woman dies!" the lead Romulan snarled. Picard shot his phaser on wide-beam, maximum stun, dropping the three Romulans where they stood.

"Lean on me, Beverly," he instructed, putting an arm around her waist. Beverly fell against him, breathing shallowly. Picard made it to the corridor, where he ran headlong into Data. "Data!" he exclaimed.

"We have taken over the ship, sir. When neither you nor Dr. Crusher—Picard—the Doctor returned, I deduced you must both have been captured, and that therefore the Romulans knew about us. I sent a small force in to attack the rear, and led my troops round to the front, where the Romulans were not expecting us."

Picard shook his head in admiration. "Good job, Data! I take it the ship is ours?"

"It is indeed, sir."

"Good. I'll be on the bridge. Please help Beverly to sickbay."

"Sickbay, sir?"

Beverly opened her eyes. "Just do it, Data!" she gasped.

"She requires medical assistance, sir?"

"In a manner of speaking!"

"Yes, sir." Data picked up Beverly as if she weighed no more than Spot, and hurried in the direction of the Romulan sickbay. Picard raced to the bridge.

He needn't have hurried. Everything was under control, and the crew was standing by, awaiting his orders. Data entered the bridge only a few minutes after he did.

"Mr. Data, take us home!" Picard commanded. A rousing cheer went up from the bridge crew.

"Captain, how is Dr. Crusher?" Riker asked, from his seat beside the Captain's chair.

"I think she'll be fine, Will," Picard replied.

"What's wrong with her?"

"You will find out soon enough."

"Starfleet is hailing us, Captain," Data said.

"Put it on screen," Picard answered. The screen lit up with the familiar sight of a Starfleet Admiral. He was smiling.

Picard's com went off. "Picard here," he murmured into it.

"This is sickbay, sir. Could you come down here, please?"

The Admiral on screen was beginning to talk. Picard cut him off with a wave of his hand. "If you will excuse me for a moment, Admiral. There are two members of my crew who deserve to be up here."

"Two, sir?" Data asked from the helm, but Picard did not reply. Puzzled frowns went from person to person around the bridge crew, but Picard had left.

He returned around ten minutes later. Beverly Crusher was leaning heavily on his arm. Her face was pale, but happy. In her arms she was holding a little, cloth-covered bundle. Riker got out of his seat, and helped Beverly sit down.

"Admiral, and crew of the _Enterprise_," Picard announced. "I would like you to welcome Beverly Picard, and our newest crew-member, Tasha."

The bundle started to cry. Data's mouth dropped open again, along with Riker's, the Admiral's, and most of the bridge crew.

"I believe, sir," Data managed. "That the correct human expression is, again, 'congratulations'."

Picard began to laugh. "Indeed it is, Mr. Data. Indeed it is."


End file.
